The present invention relates to a breast implant system which allows the shape of a breast implant to be varied after its implantation in the patient's body.
Breast implants are typically used to either replace a natural breast that has been removed, e.g. due to cancer, or to increase the size of a natural breast when the natural size is considered unsatisfactory. In general, people who desire to change the overall size and shape of their breast implants after implantation, have to undergo major surgery. It would be desirable that the patient can adjust the size and shape of the breast implant easily, depending on current needs. For instance, as time goes by, the patient might no longer be happy with the size and/or shape of the artificial breast. Or, the patient might want to change the shape or size only temporarily. For instance, one might wish to reduce the volume of the breast implant during sports activities or one might wish to enlarge the size for a particular event, such as a party or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,233 B1 discloses a breast implant which allows the overall size and shape thereof to be changed once it has been surgically implanted. Such breast implant includes an exterior shell and an inner bladder. The exterior shell is typically a bellows having a plurality of pleats, so that the outer size of the implant is variable. As the bladder is filled, the exterior shell expands in a manner that creates a lifting effect and a ballooning effect. A valve connected to both the exterior shell and the inner bladder can be used to fill the bladder external to the patient without the need for further surgery after the implant has been implanted in the patient. The bladder may be filled with a liquid, a gas or a solid, and such filler can be added and removed through the valve as needed. The valve either remains external, so that it can be used without any further surgery, or it can be located under the patient's skin, in which case minor surgery must be performed to access the valve.
The options for changing the shape of this prior art breast implant are limited. Also, it is inconvenient for the patient that the valve for accessing the inner bladder of the breast implant permanently penetrates the patient's skin or, where it is implanted subcutaneously, requires minor surgery to be accessed.